1

Polar circles
Youve worked a lot with Cartesian coordinatesa grid sys-
tem with two axes, one horizontal and one vertical. (A point
(x, y) is x units to the right of the y-axis and y units above the If x or y is negative, the
directions (right or up) are
reversed (left or down).
x-axis.) But there are other ways to graph points on a plane.
1. Describe all the points in a plane that are 3 units from the
origin using the Cartesian coordinate system.
2. How would you graph that set of points on a graphing
calculator? Try it. (Use a square zoom setting to be
sure the axes have the same scales.)
3. Change the settings on your graphing calculator from Carte- Exactly how to do this depends
on your calculator. Look for a
MODE or SET UP key. Then
look for graph type, function type,
or coordinates. Choose POL,
polar, R, or r=. If you have
trouble, look in the calculators
manual for polar coordinates.
sian (sometimes called XY, Y=, or Function mode) to po-
lar (R or r= mode). At the same time, set the angle
measure to degrees (DEG) rather than radians (RAD).
Enter the equation r = 3 in the exact same way you would
have entered the equation y = 3 to be graphed. Set the
window using values from -10 (min) to 10 (max). Try a
step size for of 4.
(a) Graph the equation. What does it look like? If you didnt use a square zoom
before, you probably should do so
now!
(b) Change the window so changes from 45 to 45.
What does the graph look like now?
(c) Try the window with values from90 to 90, and from
0 to 180. What does changing the values appear to
do to the graph?
(d) What values could you use to get a complete graph?
Check your answer and make modications, if needed,
until your graph is complete.
With polar coordinates, each point is described using two
As with Cartesian coordinates,
negative values for and r
reverse the directions.
values, just as they are with Cartesian coordinates. However,
the values dont give horizontal and vertical distances from the
origin. They give an angle () and radius (r). The angle is
measured counterclockwise from the horizontal line to the right
of the origin, and the radius is the length of the segment from
the origin to the point.
4. With polar coordinates, every point has an innite number
of ways to represent it. For example, the point (3, 30

)
could also be represented (3, 150

). Find two other

representations for the point in polar coordinates.
Problems with a Point: November 28, 2001 c EDC 2001
Polar circles: Problem 2
5. Give the Cartesian (x, y) coordinates and one polar (r, )
coordinate representation for each of the following points:
5
5
6. Without graphing, draw rough sketches predicting what
the graphs of the following equations will look like. (The
equations use polar coordinates.) Explain your thinking.
(a) r = 5
(b) r =
(c) r = 2
(d) r = + 50
(e) = 60

Problems with a Point: November 28, 2001 c EDC 2001

Polar circles: Hints 1
Hints
Hint to problem 2. Whats the general equation for a circle?
Solve for y. You will have to graph two equations rather than
one.
Hint to problem 4. Imagine taking the segment from the
origin to the point at (30

, 3) and spinning it about the origin.

Through what angle do you spin it to return it to the same
place? What if you had spun it in the other direction?
Hint to problem 5. For part c, it might help if you sketch a
grid onto the graph. Or, draw a right triangle with the origin
and the point as two vertices, and the other vertex on either
axis. For part g, draw a segment from the origin to the point.
What angle does the segment make with the x-axis? What is
the length of that segment?
Hint to problem 6. Before making each of the sketches in
parts a through d, you might rst nd r when is 0

, 90

, and
180

. Then consider how the radius changes from one of those

points to the next, as the angle changes.
For part e, notice that r can be anything. (If r is 1, what is
? If r is 3, what is ?)
Problems with a Point: November 28, 2001 c EDC 2001
Polar circles: Answers 1
Answers
1. A circle with radius 3, that is, the points (x, y) such that
x
2
+ y
2
= 9.
2. One way (using Cartesian coordinates) is to graph the two
equations y =

9 x
2
and y =

9 x
2
.
3. (a) The graph appears to be a short vertical line.
(b) The graph looks like an arc (part of a circle) from the
middle of Quadrant IV to the middle of Quadrant I.
(c) Changing the values appears to change how much of
a circle is shown and where. A semi-circle is shown, in
Quadrants IV and I (rst window) or Quadrants I and
II (second window).
(d) Any range of 360

will work.
4. Possible answers are (3, 330

) and (3, 210

). All answers should be of the form

(3, 30 + 360k

) or
(3, 150 + 360k

), where k is
an integer.
5. Polar coordinates are given using positive values for both
coordinates. If the polar coordinate is (r, ), and r and
are both positive, correct coordinates are of the form
(r, + 360k) or (r, + 180 + 360k) for some integer k.
(a) Cartesian: (3, 0); polar: (3, 0

)
(b) Cartesian: (0, 1); polar: (1, 270

)
(c) Cartesian: (2

2, 2

2); polar: (4, 135

)
(d) Cartesian: (2, 0); polar: (2, 180

)
(e) Cartesian: (0, 5); polar: (5, 90

)
(f) Cartesian: (0, 0); polar: (0, 0

) The origin can have any angle

measure as long as the radius is 0.
(g) Cartesian: (2, 2); polar: (2

2, 225

)
6. The graphs are actual graphs; the basic shape (circle or Teachers Note: Since they
have to explain why each graph
looks as it does, you might allow
students to use the graphing
calculator despite the directions
not to graph.
spiral) and location are the features to be concerned about.
(a) For any angle , the radius r will be 5.
Problems with a Point: November 28, 2001 c EDC 2001
Polar circles: Answers 2
(b) As the angle grows, so does the radius, so the points Teachers Note: You may want
to use parts b through d to point
out that, just as y = mx + b has
a particular type of curve (a line)
in Cartesian coordinates,
r = a + b has a particular type
of curve (a spiral) as well. (Note
that when a = 0, as in part a, the
spiral overwrites itself and
becomes a circle.)
will get farther away from the origin.
(c) Again, as the angle grows, so does the radius, but it
gets wider twice as fast as before.
(d) When = 0, r = 50, and again the radius will grow as
the angle grows.
Problems with a Point: November 28, 2001 c EDC 2001
Polar circles: Answers 3
(e) Since doesnt change (but r can), the graph is the
set of points along the 60

angle.
Problems with a Point: November 28, 2001 c EDC 2001